The invention relates to a deepocean conduit for the transporation of sea water from a location at great depth towards a location adjacent to the water surface, said conduit comprising support members as well as a wall from flexible material kept in shape by the support members. Such a conduit is known from the TRW report, issued in June 1975 in the U.S.A.
Such a conduit can be applied for the upward transportation of sea water of low temperatures present at great depths, the difference in temperature with the surface water then being used for the generation of energy.
Such a conduit also can be used for the transportation upwardly of minerals such as ore-containing sands and the like.
Conduits of this type have great lengths, for instance lengths of several hundreds or several thousands of meters.
If such a conduit is manufactured from steel one obtains a heavy construction which is subjected to corrosion and bio-fouling. The conduit has to be able to stand up against bending under the influence of transverse flows. The diameter of such a conduit may be 20 meters.
The above mentioned known conduit comprises a cylindrical cage structure made from tubes extending vertically and horizontally. Around said cage a fibre-reinforced synthetic material has been applied, for instance reinforced neoprene. Such a conduit has a relatively low weight, however, in view of its large dimensions, is difficult to handle and it is difficult to make it sufficiently resistant against bending forces.